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H.R. 6083, Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012

Summary

As ordered reported by the House Committee on Agriculture July 11, 2012

H.R. 6083 would amend and extend a number of major programs administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), including those addressing farm income support, food and nutrition, land conservation, trade promotion, rural development, research, forestry, energy, horticulture, and crop insurance.

When combined with estimated spending under CBO’s baseline projections for those programs, CBO estimates that enacting the Federal Agriculture Reform and Risk Management Act of 2012 would bring total direct spending for those USDA programs to $957.7 billion over the 2013-2022 period—$35.1 billion less than we project would be spent if those programs were continued as under current law.

Pay-as-you-go procedures apply because enacting the legislation would affect direct spending. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.

The bill also would authorize appropriations over the 2013-2017 period for existing and new USDA programs involving research and education, nutrition, trade promotion, rural development, credit assistance, forestry, conservation initiatives, and other miscellaneous activities. CBO estimates that implementing those provisions would cost about $22.1 billion over the next five years, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.

The bill would impose intergovernmental and private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA). CBO estimates that the aggregate costs of mandates on state, local, and tribal governments would fall below the annual threshold established in UMRA for intergovernmental mandates ($73 million in 2012, adjusted annually for inflation). Because the cost of some of the mandates on the private sector would depend on future regulations, CBO cannot determine whether the aggregate cost of those mandates would exceed the annual threshold established in UMRA for private-sector mandates ($146 million in 2012, adjusted annually for inflation).